Getting money to Nigeria

Open a Nigerian Bank account

I opened a Savings account with a bank in Jos, have an ATM card and internet banking including using a mobile app. Choose a bank near to your location.

(Which to choose? I have heard good experiences from friends using Diamond, GTBank, Zenith.First Bank has longer queues but may be best for outlying areas. I’ve heard discouraging things about Access & Unity banks and have noticed KeyStone has closed 2 of its branches in Kafanchan & Jos recently.)

Take your phone, passport,CERPAC/ID card, 2 passport photos & about ₦2000 to a bank and ask to open a Savings account. (Why Savings? Less ID is required and Savings accounts are cheaper to run than Current accounts. I don’t need a cheque book, but if you’re writing cheques for people to withdraw money elsewhere then )

You’ll need to give an address, email and phone contact details, also next-of-kin details (Date of Birth, address in Nigeria). You get an ATM card and internet banking with a Savings account. You pay for the ATM card, hence the ₦2000 initial deposit. You may need to return to collect it a couple of weeks after opening the account. You’ll also need to come back when called up to register for BVN (Bank Verification Number). You attend the bank and they take your photo and record fingerprints. This can then be used to more easily verify identity and open accounts with other banks.

US & Canadian transfers seem to require a credit card. You’re probably best preloading your credit card with a positive balance to avoid the interest charges that would otherwise result from a cash advance, which the payment to Exchange4Free/WorldRemit would incur.

Enter your Nigerian bank details as the destination.

You should get emails telling you the transfer was successful within a few minutes. Azimo may be slower over the weekend.

Phone banking

Many banks allow you to do some banking with special USSD codes. For example GTBank use *737*… for some services, including recharging your mobile phone from your bank account, checking your balance etc. Very convenient.

ATMs

You are normally allowed a few (3?) withdrawals from other banks (eg I have used UBA or FirstBank) free each month. You can typically withdraw money in ₦20-30,000 amounts from ATMs, so several transactions at one time might be needed.